【發行人的話】 Publisher’s Note

親愛的朋友，寒露將至，稻浪轉黃，又到了與大家分享種碳平台最新進展的時刻。感謝你持續關注種碳文摘，陪我們一起用土壤的語言，說一個關於台灣稻米的故事。這一期，我想特別和大家聊聊「食味值」這件事。

過去兩個月，我們接連辦了三場食味值品鑑盲測：9月18日在台中漢翔、10月3日在池上萬安社區稻米原鄉館、10月4日在花蓮吉安米田共享合作社。我們用相同的電鍋、相同的米水比例、相同的洗米方式，端出食味值高、中、低的白米，讓消費者與農民親自盲測投票。結果一次又一次驗證：大家票選出最好吃的米，正是儀器測出食味值最高的那一款。更有意思的是，我們同時用簡單的雙氧水測試法，評估稻田土壤的有機質含量——高食味值的米，果然多半來自有機質豐富、真正「種了碳」的健康土壤。

這印證了我們一直相信的一件事：健康的土壤，才能種出健康的食物，也才能養出健康的人。而這條鏈結，正是種碳平台想透過「食味值」這把尺，具體地串起農民的耕作方式與消費者餐桌上的選擇。

特別要感謝這段時間全力支持的三個場域——台中漢翔、池上萬安社區稻米原鄉館，以及花蓮吉安米田共享合作社。沒有你們願意開放場地、動員農民與消費者參與，這三場品鑑就不可能這麼順利地完成。這也讓我更確信，種碳平台要做的，不只是技術與數據，更是把人與土地重新連在一起的過程。

這一期，我們也特別整理了食味值的技術原理與歷史脈絡，並破解一個常見的迷思：CNS 國家標準分出的一等米、二等米，評的其實不是「好不好吃」，而是外觀與瑕疵率。許多人不知道，價格較高的一等米，在我們的盲測中，未必比二等米更受青睞——這或許該讓我們重新思考，挑米到底該看等級，還是該看食味值。

最後，我們也正式將食味值品鑑活動與「ESG綠色新幹線」合作串連，誠摯邀請企業、消費者與學校一起到田間、到品鑑現場，用舌尖認識土壤的力量。如果你對這一期的內容有任何想法或建議，歡迎直接回信給我，我很樂意與你多聊聊。期待在下一期——10月23日霜降——與大家分享ESG應用的新進展和台中秀明農法的小農林世豐被猴群偷走一年辛勤收穫的故事。

方儉

Dear friends, Cold Dew is almost here and the rice fields are turning gold — once again it's time to share the latest from Carbon Farming with you. Thank you for staying with Carbon Farming Digest as we keep telling Taiwan's rice story in the language of soil. This issue, I especially want to talk with you about something we call “taste value.”

Over the past two months we ran three blind rice-tasting panels back to back: September 18 in Taichung, October 3 at Chishang's Wan-an Community Rice Hometown Hall, and October 4 at Hualien Ji'an's shared rice cooperative. Using identical rice cookers, the same rice-to-water ratio, and the same rinsing method, we served rice of high, medium, and low taste value and let consumers and farmers vote blind. Every time, the result held: the rice people voted tastiest was exactly the one the instrument had scored highest for taste value. Even more interesting, we ran a simple hydrogen-peroxide test alongside it to gauge the organic matter in the paddy soil — and sure enough, the highest-taste-value rice mostly came from soil rich in organic matter, soil that had genuinely “grown carbon.”

This confirmed something we've believed all along: only healthy soil can grow healthy food, and only healthy food can nourish healthy people. That chain is exactly what Carbon Farming wants to make concrete through the measure of “taste value” — connecting how farmers farm to what consumers choose at the table.

I especially want to thank the three venues that gave their full support during this stretch — Taichung, Chishang's Wan-an Community Rice Hometown Hall, and Hualien Ji'an's shared rice cooperative. Without your willingness to open your spaces and mobilize farmers and consumers to take part, these three tastings could never have gone so smoothly. It has also made me even more certain that what Carbon Farming is building isn't just technology and data — it's the work of reconnecting people with the land.

This issue, we've also put together the technical principles and history behind taste value, and debunked a common myth: the CNS national standard's first- and second-grade classifications don't actually score how good rice tastes — they score appearance and defect rates. Many people don't realize that in our blind tastings, the pricier first-grade rice wasn't necessarily preferred over second-grade rice. Maybe it's time we rethink whether we should be shopping by grade, or by taste value.

Finally, we've formally linked our taste-value tastings with the “ESG Green Shinkansen” partnership, and we sincerely invite companies, consumers, and schools to join us in the field and at the tasting table to taste the power of soil for themselves. If you have any thoughts or suggestions about this issue, please feel free to write back to me directly — I'd love to talk more. I look forward to sharing, in our next issue on October 23 (Frost's Descent), new progress on ESG applications, and the story of Lin Shih-feng, a Shumei natural-farming smallholder in Taichung whose year of hard-won harvest was stolen by a troop of monkeys.

Sincerely,

Person in charge：Jay Fang 

CEO，Eco-Affinity Inc.

寒露，是秋天的第五個節氣。此時露水帶寒意，氣候乾燥、早晚轉冷，是燥氣當令的高峰，容易出現咳嗽、皮膚乾癢與過敏。養生宜滋陰潤燥，多吃白木耳、水梨、芝麻、山藥，並漸進加入南瓜、紅棗等溫性食材，生冷冰品要避免。古人說「寒露腳不露」，要特別保暖足部，睡前泡腳有助睡眠。田間二期稻收割完畢，農地進入休耕整地，冬季裡作開始播種，覆蓋綠肥、補充有機質正是種碳的好時機。

Cold Dew, the fifth autumn solar term. Dew now carries a chill, the air is dry, and mornings and evenings turn cold — peak "dryness" season, when coughs, itchy skin, and allergies flare up. Nourish yin and moisten dryness with white fungus, pear, sesame, and yam, gradually adding warming foods like pumpkin and red dates, while avoiding cold or icy items. An old saying goes "don't bare your feet at Hanlu": keep feet warm, and a warm foot soak before bed helps sleep. In the fields, second-crop rice is harvested and land moves into fallow and soil preparation as winter crops go in — a good time for green manure and organic matter, key practices in carbon farming.

The moment the rice cooker lid lifts, what you smell isn't just rice — it's the breath of the land itself. Carbon Farming ran three blind rice-tasting panels across Taichung, Chishang, and Hualien, letting consumers and farmers vote with their tongues. The result, every time: fields that sequester the most carbon grow the tastiest rice. Read on to taste the soil's secret for yourself.

一等米真的比較好吃嗎？CNS分級評的其實是「賣相」，不是「好吃」。這篇文章帶你搞懂食味值怎麼測出來、為什麼過量化肥會讓米變難吃，以及一個比魔術還療癒的雙氧水土壤小實驗——看完你會發現，「種碳」兩個字，原來就藏在每一口飯的滋味裡。

Is first-grade rice really the tastiest? CNS grading actually scores looks, not flavor. This article unpacks how taste value is measured, why over-fertilizing ruins a good bowl of rice, and a near-magical hydrogen-peroxide soil trick — by the end, you'll see that carbon farming is hiding in every bite.

讀完上面兩篇，是不是已經開始想念電鍋掀蓋那一刻的米香？種碳平台正式把食味值品鑑與「ESG綠色新幹線」串連起來，邀請企業、消費者與學校，直接到現場盲測、看雙氧水冒泡秀、上一堂扎實的食農教育課。想把永續行動變成看得見、嚐得到的真實故事嗎？這篇文章告訴你怎麼預約。

Already missing the smell of rice when the cooker lid lifts? Carbon Farming has formally linked its taste-value tastings with the ESG Green Shinkansen program, inviting companies, consumers, and schools on-site for a blind tasting, a hydrogen-peroxide soil show, and a hands-on food-and-farming lesson. Want to turn sustainability into something you can see and taste? This article shows you how to book it.

想跟食味鑑定士一樣，一口吃出米的高下？這篇文章公開種碳平台的消費者盲測SOP，比較日本「特A」評鑑制度與台灣全國稻米品質競賽的差異，還附上一套你在家就能玩的雙氧水土壤檢測流程——品飯、驗土，一次學會。

Want to taste rice like a trained evaluator? This article reveals Carbon Farming's consumer blind-tasting protocol, compares Japan's prestigious "Special A" rice ranking system with Taiwan's national rice quality competition, and walks through a hydrogen-peroxide soil test you can try yourself. Tasting and soil testing, demystified.